Page 311 - Duct Tape Marketing

295Chapter 18: Enhancing Customer Service

Some customers will never be satisfied by anything other than the very lowest
price. And others may never be satisfied even if you provide your offering for
free. Be aware of the following three customer categories, and weight your
efforts toward developing relationship customers in your business.

Relationship customers

Relationship customers value loyalty and commitment. Recognize them,
remember them, do them favors, offer them gifts, bend your rules, anticipate
their needs, and win their trust, and they’ll become loyal customers for life.

Transaction customers

Transaction customers are interested primarily in price. They represent sales
and generate word-of-mouth for your business, but they’ll leave you for a
deeper discount in a split second, so gauge your efforts to meet their high
demands accordingly.

Toxic customers

Sooner or later, you’ll encounter an excessively negative customer. When you
do, you have two choices.

One is to get defensive, trying to prove why your business is right in spite of
the bad opinion held by the person standing in front of you. This route almost
certainly leads to an argument, which erodes your customer service standard
and leaves you in a losing position.

The better approach is to use the same friendly service style for which your
business is known — listening, trying to solve the customer’s complaint, and
working to arrive at a mutually agreeable outcome. Many times, this service
approach will calm the customer and lead to a positive outcome.

But . . . some customers demand concessions you shouldn’t make, and those
customers are simply not a good match for your business. Catering to their
demands risks the financial stability of your business and threatens your abil-
ity to retain your good employees.

When you encounter an overly negative or abusive customer, make a choice
in favor of your business. Forego the customer’s business — in other words,
let the customer go

ߜ If the customer is acting abusively to you or your employees

ߜ If the customer is abusing your systems or otherwise taking advantage
of your business

ߜ If the customer ignores your payment policies or refuses to pay what
you know is the fair price for your offering